Horatio Ballard

A life of grotesque excess and unrestrained self-indulgence left its mark on Horatio Ballard even before undeath had its way with him. Tall but hugely corpulent in life, with multiple overlapping chins, fingers like sausages, and a total body mass that left spavined horses and broken coach springs in his wake, he now resembles nothing so much as a massive human figure carved entirely from frozen lard. His flesh is corpse white with an unhealthy, waxy sheen and none of his bulk seems to move like it should on an ordinary human, a fact that ordinary humans notice rather quickly if they’re forced to spend any length of time in his presence.
He only wastes that much effort on some licks, anyway, generally preferring to use his size for pure purposes of physical intimidation with his lessers, including any and all mortals unfortunate enough to meet his tastes.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Plots, Schemes and Whispers

Sire-Childe Friction: For decades, Horatio Ballard served his sire and his clan as a source of financial support and mortal political influence — not out of any particular sense of altruism or duty, but because he absolutely feared the sort of vengeance Lodin could bring to bear if he failed to execute the terms of their personal deal as required. Now free of his sire, he seeks to make himself the wealthiest vampire in Chicago, playing the role of debt collector instead of that of a Kindred ATM.

Reinvestment: The situation in Chicago is more fluid and riper for genuine change than it has been since the hour of his Embrace and Horatio Ballard is trying to rebuild his reputation and redevelop a power base, an effort that consumes most of his night-to-night attention.

Embrace Technology: The Camarilla’s sudden onset antipathy for modern communication methods in general has licks Embraced in the last century scrambling to find alternatives. Ballard is bankrolling the development of several “SchreckNET-lite” projects intended to offer tightly localized, highly secured online communication options. Being a bit of a relic, he doesn’t grasp how dangerous this is and his business partners have lowballed the risk in order to gain his support.

All Night Taxis: Ballard recognizes the need for safe transportation options for Kindred migrating to safer climes and whose business requires regular travel. He’s trying to get in with one such service, investing heavily in the Ferri taxi company.

Chicago By Night    Kindred, Kine & Others    The Camarilla      Horatio Ballard

Character Prototype

Sire: Lodin
Embraced: 1881 (born 1832)
Ambition: Regain what I lost and take what I never had
Convictions: Never leave money on the table

Touchstones: 

Christopher Augustus Ballard — favorite nephew and principal retainer, the echo of the man Ballard was before years of excess destroyed his health; 

Martine Ballard — the most recent arrival from Massachusetts, an intern in Ballard Industries’ legal department

Humanity: 4
Generation: 8th
Blood Potency: 3

Attributes:
Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4;
Charisma 2, Manipulation 5, Composure 1;
Intelligence 5, Wits 5, Resolve 3
Secondary Attributes: Health 11, Willpower 4
Skills: 
Brawl (Immovable Object) 4; Etiquette (Dining) 3, Insight 3
Intimidation (Financial) 5, Leadership 2, Persuasion 4,
Subterfuge 3; Academics (Law) 3, Finance (Industry) 4, Politics (Bureaucracy, Camarilla, Chicago) 4
Disciplines:

Potency: Surge 3, Heal 2, Add 1, Reroll level 2, 

Dominate 4: Declare Weakness - 10 vs Composure + Intelligence, reduce an attribute by 2 for the scene, Cloud Memory, Mesmerize, https://app.demiplane.com/nexus/vampire/powers/implant-suggestion (10 vs Comp+Resolve to alter intent)

Fortitude 4: Resilience, Mental Vault (Store 4 memories perfectly), Return to Sender (9 dice vs Dex+Athletics up to 4m away), Earth's Perseverance (Can't be moved)

Potence 2: Lethal Body, Prowess

Presence 3: Daunt, Awe, Twist Words (Insight + Presence (7 dice) against social attacks look innocent)